Why Can’t Johnny Do Math?

The National Research Council places American math students dead last among a number of nations. The National Assessment of Educational Progress says U.S. 17-year-olds are no stronger in math than those of 20 years ago. The third International Math and Science Study gives American eighth-graders a C-minus. So how does all of this bad news add up?

Part of America’s problem is simply a lack of interest and willpower. Says humorist Fran Leibowitz: “Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.�

But in fact there is such a thing, a need for mathematical reasoning, and educators should wage a campaign to make that clear. California school officials, for instance, could begin by pointing out that two mainstays of the state’s economy--the entertainment and computer industries--rely on technologies run by math-proficient staffs. In technical areas of those fields no one else need apply.

Sacramento is the focus of the most heated struggle for improved math education. Two opposing factions seek to revise state guidelines.

The first faction defends “reform math,� an instructional method adopted by state officials in 1985 that focuses not on rote memorization but on motivating students to solve problems through conceptual understanding.

The opponents demand a back-to-basics approach, and state education officials have worked hard to give them a fair hearing. In September, for instance, the State Board of Education called for more basic skills instruction--like memorizing multiplication tables. And this month state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin proposed spending $440 million to fund a program requiring California high school students to pass a demanding array of math courses, including algebra, geometry and two years of lab science, in order to graduate. Currently, two years of any classes in mathematics, no matter how basic, is sufficient for graduation.

These back-to-basics reforms bring a needed rigor to math education. But effective components of so-called reform math, the conceptual model, should remain in the curriculum. Not only has reform math been key to helping foreign students ace worldwide achievement tests but its focus on deep understanding of fundamental math concepts addresses a central problem identified by the National Science Foundation. Phil Daro, a former chief of the California Math Task Force, described it: “Our teachers go three pages a day. Japanese teachers spend three days on a page.�

Other reforms are needed. For instance:

* State legislators should support Eastin’s proposal to offer preschool space to every 4-year-old Californian. An early start is essential to learning. Research shows that the vast majority of brain development occurs from birth to age 4.

* Establish a national program to identify successful teaching strategies here and abroad, and adopt the best for teacher development programs.

* Mandate a national achievement standard. Unlike most developed nations, the United States fails to specify what math students should know at each grade level, much less test for that knowledge.

Citing America’s diverse population, Marshall Smith of the U.S. Department of Education says each state, even each school system, should be free to embrace the math instruction that best suits its particular needs and challenges. There is good sense in that. But Smith also says math standards should not be set at the federal level, and on that point he is wrong. For unless students are required to meet national standards, freedom in the choice of classroom techniques will be in vain.